Toyota Motor Corp., already in a frenzied push to expand its auto output, is stepping up its race to open new factories as part of a confidential blueprint to grab a 15% global market share by 2010 amid an expected surge in car sales in India, China and other emerging markets.

The Japanese auto giant, which recently passed Ford Motor Co. to become the world's No. 2 auto maker by sales and is poised to overtake General Motors Corp. as early as this year, aims to open three more new plants by 2009 as part of a "global master plan," boosting its production capacity by 450,000 vehicles a year.

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The Street Light is written by economist Kash Mansori, who works as an economic consultant (though views expressed here are entirely his own), writes whenever he can in his spare time, and teaches a bit here and there. You can contact him by writing to the gmail account streetlightblog. (More about Kash.)